Ramon Rispoli will deliver a lecture on ‘Covid-19 and the Politics of Data Collection and Visualization’. It will be chaired by Prathama Banerjee.

Wednesday, 8 October 2025, 4 pm, Seminar Room and Zoom

Covid-19 “curves” and other infographics profoundly shaped how the pandemic was perceived and experienced. Treated as essential tools of crisis management, they operated within a biopolitical logic, influencing behaviour as much as understanding. Yet such representations are never neutral: as tropes, they are inherently partial, even when claiming scientific objectivity. Covid-19 graphics revealed that data and their visualizations are not merely framed but framing—defining what we see, what we ignore, and how we respond. Far from transparent mirrors of reality, they acted as political instruments, setting the very terms of collective perception and action.

Ramon Rispoli is Associate Professor of Design at the Department of Architecture of the University of Naples Federico II (Italy). In his research, he deals with design and architectural theory in their socio-technical, political and ecological dimensions, from a perspective close to STS (Science and Technology Studies), neomaterialism and posthumanism.

Prathama Banerjee is Professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.

Link to join the lecture online: https://bit.ly/3KoJOIp

Zoom ID: 81084131689            Passcode: csdsdelhi